Overview
- New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in his inaugural address that he would replace “the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”
- Fox News published an opinion warning that collectivism historically enables repression and mass deaths, citing communist and national socialist regimes as cautionary examples.
- The Washington Examiner argued the collectivism-versus-individualism framing is a false choice and urged strengthening families and local civic institutions as a counterweight to state power.
- Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen praised rugged individualism in a social media response, and Bishop Robert Barron criticized socialism in comments posted on X.
- A New York Post column compared Mamdani’s rhetoric to life under communist Romania and questioned the costs and consequences of subsidies mentioned in his speech, including free child care.